What is it about thrillers that gets us going so quickly, that keeps our hearts beating quicker and makes us want more? In the past and in the present thrillers have acted as a means of creating a surge of adrenaline that keeps us on our toes and in some ways makes us feel alive. It’s an old, VERY old trick of the mind and the body that hearkens back to our survival instincts that were necessary when we were still hunters and gatherers as it kept us alive, but in this day and age the thriller is something that reminds us of the fear that we used to feel and just why it was both important and so ultimately terrifying when we were presented with it. There are many different ways to frighten a person and there are many different movies that can qualify as thrillers, but the main essence of the thrill is that it will, at one point, make your adrenaline spike and your heart beat just a little faster.
Here are some of the best thrillers from 2010 and onward.
5. Sicario
The anticipation of the violence to come is a huge part of this movie, as is the idea that any moment within it could be something that really happens in the real world. They didn’t go so over the top that it could never happen in a million years, but the filmmaker did go hardcore enough to show people that the war going on between the US and the cartels is nothing short of horrifying since both sides are being drawn to do things that an average human being might find absolutely abhorrent to their sensibilities. Taking out the bad guy by becoming the bad guy seems like something that might only happen in the movies.
4. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Something about this movie seems off from the start since it’s dark, it’s twisted, and it’s definitely something that might have been better left as a book as some fans seem to believe. But putting it on the big screen was still enough of a triumph according to many people that happened to like the dark and gritty nature of the movie while studiously ignoring any and all inaccuracies that do tend to happen in transition from the book to the big screen. So long as the story comes through and the main source material isn’t messed with too much unless there’s no other choice, many movies tend to come out just fine.
3. Black Swan
Perfection is everything to some people and in the world of ballet it seems that a lot of young women torture themselves in the attempt to reach the top spot and shine in the spotlight that they feel should only be theirs. However, the more one struggles to reach that spot the more they seem to unravel with every turn as they can forget who they are and just why they wanted that position in the first place. The breakdown of the main character in this movie is evident as she continually progresses from perfection to madness until it culminates in the final few scenes, reminding the audience that as gripping as her story is, the madness is confined within her own mind.
2. Prisoners
What would you do if your children went missing? It’s a tough question to answer even if you’re not a parent since many parents would move heaven and earth if need be to find their kids. But abducting the young man that’s still suspected to have something to do with their disappearance and then torturing him relentlessly seems to cross a dangerous line that many would back away from without hesitation. How many of us would gladly walk that darker path for the sake of our children however? It’s a question that many don’t want to answer because they fear what they’d say, but some would gladly embrace to save their family.
1. Get Out
Initially it seems that a lot of people were pointing out every little racist and harmful part of this movie without realizing that this is the way that it was set up. Of course it was incredibly racist, of course it was blatantly obvious that it was being this way. That’s how the movie was designed and that’s how it was played out until the end when Chris finally got away and his would be killers were left to die. However it could have ended the film was not made with the sensibilities of many people in mind as it was made to open eyes and allow them to see something that might have been lost in the mix if not for the in-your-face manner that the movie was created.
Thrillers remind us that we’re alive when they make us jump.
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